Pension cold calling ban introduced

The government is set to introduce a ban on cold callers selling investment products to people cashing in their pension pots from the age of 55.

The ban will aim to tackle the ongoing rise of scam calls that is estimated to have led to pension fraud totalling £19 million in 2015.

Companies avoiding the ban could face fines of up to £500,000.

The measures will be further outlined in the chancellor’s Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016.

Kate Smith, head of pensions at Aegon, said:

“The proposed ban on cold calling is a major step forward but it needs to go further to cover texts and emails other common techniques used to try to part people from their hard-earned cash. Scams are constantly evolving as soon as you remove one fraud method, another variant on the old scheme pops up.”

Ros Altmann, former minister of state for the Department for Work and Pensions, said:

“A ban on cold calling is obviously not going to stop all scams, but it gives people a fighting chance of recognising the dangers before they engage and also ensures that we can give the public the clear message that such approaches are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.”